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The
Oil Patch Quartet
an omnibus of four novels by John Ballem
Fiction
ISBN: 1-896951-89-9
6" x 9"
Trade Paper
$29.95
500 pages
BISAC Codes
FIC020000
Fiction/Men's Adventure
FIC030000
Fiction/Suspense
FIC031000
Fiction/Thrillers
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The
Oil Patch Quartet
an omnibus of four novels by John Ballem
Oilmen from Texas and Oklahoma swarm into Alberta in the wake of
Leduc No. 1, the "Last Chance Well," that tapped into
the vast reserves of oil under the rolling western plains.Wildcatters
and promoters, colorful, larger-than-life, they work hard and play
hard in pursuit of the fabled Black Gold. Local oil barons quickly
join the Wildcat wells in the field, intrigue in the boardroom,
sex in the bedroom, tycoons and corporate raiders, all drive an
industry where the elusive prize lurks thousands of metres underground.
The search for that glittering prize draws men like tycoon Bill
Crawford, staking his entire fortune on his wildcatter's instinct
for the big stake, his rebellious daughter, Debbie, determined to
carve out her own place in the male-dominated patch, Luke Willard,
standing on the drilling rig floor and daring to call the devil
up out of the hole, Margo Jones, ruthless journalist who will do
anything for a sensational story. Hearts are broken, fortunes won
and lost, as they and their venturesome contemporaries seek their
destinies through the tumultuous decades of boom and bust, and build
the Canadian oilpatch into the international powerhouse it is today.
Praise for John Ballem:
"Taken together, the novels paint an invaluable picture of
the Alberta oil industry from the halcyon 1950s through the tumultuous
1980s.
"But imagine you're a scholar 200 years hence.You're investigating
the oil patch? Ballem's books will communicate a greater sense of
what it was like in these early days than any number of statistical
surveys or even lively eye-witness histories."
— Ken McGoogan, The Calgary Herald
About John Ballem. |
